Lifelong Jambo Gary Locke’s derby date with destiny

STUART BATHGATE
Published on Tuesday 17 April 2012 00:00

GARY Locke’s dream of playing in a Hearts team which won the Scottish Cup was thwarted by injury in 1998, but as club captain he was still able to lift the trophy along with Stevie Fulton at the end of the final.

And, after the Tynecastle club’s 42-year wait for the trophy, Locke was as ecstatic as any of his team-mates who played in that 2-1 victory over Rangers at Celtic Park.

Now Hearts’ first-team coach, the 36-year-old is looking forward to another final. At Hampden this time, and one which would at least equal that win 14 years ago.

Hearts have won the cup as recently as 2006, so there would be no similar feeling of ending a drought. But for this lifelong supporter of the club, the fact that next month’s final is against Edinburgh rivals Hibernian is enough to ensure that it would again be a very special occasion.

Everyone who goes on to be a coach or manager will tell you that nothing compares to the joy of playing. But that will not stop Locke from celebrating every bit as hard if Hearts beat Hibs on 19 May as he did back in 1998. “It would be a dream come true again,” Locke said when asked what victory next month would mean for him. “It was frustrating in 1998 not to be involved, but as a fan it was great. I’d never seen Hearts win anything, so it was fantastic.

“It’s going to be a difficult cup final. Hibs have picked up in the last four or five games and are looking OK in the league now. I’m sure they’ll get a lift from getting to the final as well.

“The whole city of Edinburgh will be absolutely delighted that for a change it’s an Edinburgh derby in the final, and the whole city will be looking forward to it. It will be a nervous occasion for us all, but it’s a wee bit away yet and I’d rather concentrate on the league games coming up, because they’re important as well, and then the cup final will take care of itself.”

For a Hearts fanatic like Locke, losing to Hibs would be the biggest nightmare in football, and beating them the greatest triumph. He refused to speculate further on either outcome, however, preferring to praise the performance of the whole Hearts team which beat Celtic 2-1 on Sunday, with a special mention for matchwinner Craig Beattie.

“I think that’s looking a wee bit too far ahead,” Locke said when asked about his possible reaction to a final defeat. “We’re just absolutely delighted that we’re in the final and we’ve got a game that the fans can look forward to.

“It was unbelievable,” he continued, speaking of the last five minutes when Gary Hooper equalised for Celtic and then Beattie scored from the penalty spot. “You go from probably the lowest point in the world with them equalising to seeing Beatts’ penalty hit the back of the net.

“It was a fantastic feeling. I was just delighted for everybody associated with the club: the fans who came through and gave us fantastic backing, and the players especially, because it would have been easy for them to crumble when Celtic equalised.

“But we showed the sort of character I feel that we’ve shown a lot of this season. And we’re absolutely delighted that we managed to get the win.

“I’m just delighted for everybody, including the manager Paulo [Sergio]. It was an emotional day for him as well.”

“He’s very thorough in his preparation and he’s very humble as well. That just sums Paulo up. He’s been fantastic for the club, and I’m really delighted for him.

“We stuck to our game plan. We’d worked on it heavily on the training pitch, and I think you see it worked. It was great.”

“We knew we had to be well organised. That’s one thing Paulo prides himself on – he likes his teams to be organised, and I thought tactically we got it right. We looked solid enough first- half without having a lot of the ball, but then when Beatts came on he gave us a physical presence up front and we managed to get more bodies forward. I think the gameplan worked a treat.””

Australian full-back Ryan McGowan has revelled in the last few Edinburgh derbies, and scored the opener in his team’s 3-1 win at Easter Road on the second day of the year. He may have grown up on the other side of the world among a family of Celtic fans, but since coming to the capital he has become fully aware of how much the derby means to both sets of supporters – and of how long it has been since Hibs last won the cup.

“I don’t think anybody alive has seen Hibs win the cup,” McGowan said. “It’s going to be a massive, massive occasion. I reckon I would have had 50 texts asking for tickets within an hour of the final whistle.

“It will give Edinburgh a massive boost – and give Scottish football a huge boost, really. It will make a really welcome change from one of the Old Firm always making the final.

‘To have two capital teams will be special. It’s a great advert for the game around the world.

“It’s going to be some build-up, although I didn’t even know the date of the final until someone mentioned it after our win. We’ve actually still got a lot of big SPL games between now and then, because we want to work up the league and get a place in Europe through that – then thecup final will take care of itself.

‘I don’t want to jinx it, but I’ve never lost to Hibs. That’s a pretty good record.

“It’s one of those games that will be part of history. Nobody will want to miss it. I’m just delighted that we could make it happen, that we could put ourselves in a position to hopefully go on and win such a huge game.”

Taken from the Scotsman